Today I joined hundreds of people in publicly testifying at an Environmental Protection Agency hearing. The EPA, under the leadership of fossil fuel industry shill Scott Pruitt, is proposing to repeal the Clean Power Plan - without a replacement. As one woman put it, "repealing the CPP without a replacement is like moving out of your house without having a new place to move into."
I was invited to testify by Moms Clean Air Force - who advised me to tell a personal story about how climate change and air quality affected me. So I shared a story about how Elliot was trapped by the Sonoma fires last fall. Even the former Charles Koch Institute guy seemed moved. Here is my three minute testimony:
Vanessa Warheit testifies at the 2/28/18 EPA Listening Session in San Francisco, on EPA's proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan.
Lisa Hoyos' 12-year old son was the last to speak in the afternoon's session. “I shouldn’t be here," he said, "I should be in school, or studying for my math test. I’m here because I’m afraid of what my future is going to be. The fact that the EPA, who are supposed to protect our environment, are talking about repealing a rule to protect our air - I can’t wrap my brain around it. I want to have a future where I don’t have to worry about this. Where my kids - if I have kids - don’t have to worry about this."
He spoke without notes, looking all three EPA administrators in the eye. He told them about his fears for the future. "When you think about all this testimony later," he concluded, "I want you to remember my face: the face of the future generation.”
12-year old citizen testifying to the EPA on proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan.